Raiders Return

Voters here strongly support local efforts to lure the Raiders back to the East Bay, a poll shows, but many also admit that Sacramento is a better place to live. In the poll, released Tuesday by the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Board, 60% of 400 registered voters polled by telephone said they would like to see the Raiders return, 21% do not approve of the idea and 19% have no opinion. "People clearly want that team back.

The Raiders have long been considered a candidate to relocate back to Los Angeles, and Tuesday new owner Mark Davis officially put them in play. Davis, son of late owner Al Davis, said it's essential that the Raiders get a new stadium and that the organization has had conversations with L.A. stadium groups. "The timetable is yesterday. So that's where it is. We've got to get a stadium. We've got to get that done," Davis said Tuesday at a news conference to introduce Reggie McKenzie as Raiders general manager.

Cornerback Phillip Buchanon wasn't going to miss the same pass twice. Moments after allowing a pass by Drew Bledsoe to slip through his hands, Buchanon intercepted the next one and ran it back 81 yards for a touchdown, sparking the Oakland Raiders to a 49-31 win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. Oakland (4-0) is the NFL's only unbeaten team, following San Diego's 26-9 loss to Denver. The Raiders matched the best start in franchise history, last going 4-0 in 1990. They have Buchanon to thank.

Ens. Napoleon McCallum's month at camp ended Sunday. Today, while 85 Raiders and aspirants go back to work at Oxnard, he is scheduled to report to the Navy's Los Angeles recruiting office. Tuesday, he'll be aboard the amphibious ship Peleliu in Long Beach, a naval officer and a gentleman once more; a Raider no longer, until next summer. What was this one like? It was a learning experience for McCallum, for the Raiders and perhaps for the Navy.

Times Staff Writer Steve Springer poses--and answers--the burning questions for this week's games: Question: Is there a reason to encourage the Oakland Raiders to come back to L.A.? Answer: Yes, the Lakers could repeat as NBA champions without having to worry about riots in the streets.

Times writer Steve Springer poses--and answers--the burning questions for this week's games: 1. Question: Is there any any chance the Oakland Raiders will come back to L.A.? Answer: Let's see. Raider boss Al Davis still maintains a place here. The team and the city of Oakland are locked in a legal battle. The initial roar over their return to Oakland is down to a faint hum. And the number of empty seats for home games is growing at an alarming rate. So what do you think? 2.

Echoing the sentiment of the vast majority of whatever percentage of Los Angeles residents really care, the Los Angeles City Council took an unusually unequivocal stand on a pretty simple issue Friday: The city will not seek the return of the Raiders--or of their owner, Al Davis--to the Coliseum. "I don't think the welcome mat should ever be out," said Councilman Hal Bernson, who wrote the motion. "We have to be cognizant of what transpired when Mr. Davis was here before."

The following is a public service advisory. The NFL is in town today, but until it has finished pillaging Cleveland, it will not be able to dictate terms of surrender to those in Los Angeles working for the return of football.

Ray Ratto in the San Francisco Examiner: "With seven shopping days before the season opener, the [Oakland] Coliseum is still only three-fifths full, which means that the Raiders' homecoming is going to seem an awful lot like a Cincinnati-Tampa Bay game in December. "For much of this, you can thank Al Davis, whose customer-service skills could be matched by a KGB agent who just had an argument with his wife.

Last Nov. 13, the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys played "the game of the season," but it wasn't televised by Fox in Los Angeles. A Ram-Raider game that day at Anaheim Stadium had sold out, freeing it to be televised by NBC at 1 p.m. NFL television policies did not permit Fox to show another 1 p.m. game opposite the Rams and Raiders. The 49er-Cowboy game in San Francisco was also starting at 1. So Fox gave L.A. Chicago and Miami at 10 a.m.

It wasn't as dramatic as Baltimore, public-relations director Rick Smith said of the Rams' move to St. Louis. He was right. Nobody left in the middle of the night for Missouri as the Colts did when they sneaked out of Baltimore and moved to Indianapolis 11 years ago. Friday was moving day for the Rams, who had 18 vehicles scheduled to leave Anaheim for St. Louis, where the team will play for the first time in 1995.

Davis Not Only One to Blame, but He's a Good Place to Start How could this happen? The question clouds Los Angeles today, as thick as the stench of an Al Davis lie. At the end of one football season, we had two NFL teams. By the start of the next, we'll have none. This is not evolution. This is robbery. How could this happen? Somebody has stolen a piece of our identity, one of the few common denominators in a city of too many fractions. There are thieves in the house. Al Davis is one.